Westminster Brass receives its name from the Westminster Confession of Faith. The purpose of the group is to perform sacred music as excellently as possible for the glory of God.
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Westminster Brass had its origins in the Philadelphia Conference on Reformed Theology in the spring of 1976. Dr. Stuart Sacks, an assistant minister at Tenth Presbyterian Church, assembled a handful of brass players from the Philadelphia area to provide music for the Atlanta PCRT. Three of these were eventually members of the Westminster Brass: John Moore, Tom Elliott and Tim Witmer.
In the fall of that year, these players performed for a Fine Arts conference at Westminster Theological Seminary, at which time they met another musician, hornist Dan McCartney, who was performing at the conference. Tom Elliott was inspired to form a permanent quintet. During that same year, Jim Hala joined the group as the second trumpet and the original Westminster Brass was complete. Tom Elliott served as director until his teaching duties demanded more of his time, at which point Jim Hala took over as director.
In 1981 John Moore left Philadelphia to perform as principal trumpet of the Maracaibo Symphony Orchestra in Venezuela and was replaced by Ken Laudermilch. Since 1981 the constituency of the group has remained the same.
© 2009 Westminster Brass :: James W. Hala, Director :: westminsterbrass@earthlink.net :: 609.471.6105